Topics

Fish, Adaptations

Grades
3-5

Site
Indoors

Duration
60 minutes

Materials
 Decode a Fish student
sheet (1 per student)
 Habitat Photos What patterns do we observe in the body shapes of fishes that live in the same habitat?
 Fish ID Cards (1 set
per student pair)
 Decode a Fish Key
(at least one key per
student pair) What is a fish? Where does it live? How does it survive in its habitat? Students use science
 Nonfiction fish skills to decipher how the body parts of a fish affect its ability to move, find food
resources (books, and protect itself.
magazines and web
sites)
 Nonfiction text about
a scientist Students will be able to:
 Science notebooks or
 Define a fish as a vertebrate with scales and fins that lives in water and
paper
breathes with gills.
Vocabulary  Identify specific fish adaptations.
adaptations, caudal,  Describe patterns in the body shapes of fishes that live in the same habitat.
dorsal, habitat, pectoral

Next Generation
Science Standards Fish are vertebrates, or animals with backbones. They have many adaptations that help
Practices them survive in their aquatic habitats. Most fish are cold-blooded animals. The skeletons of
Constructing
most fish are made of bone. Sharks and rays have cartilaginous skeletons made of calcium
explanations and phosphate and other minerals.
designing solutions
Instead of lungs, fish have gills for breathing. Fish take water in through their mouths.
Core Ideas
As the water passes over the gills, oxygen from the water is absorbed into the fish’s blood
LS4.C Adaptation stream. Most bony fish have gas-filled swim bladders for buoyancy. In contrast, sharks have
Crosscutting Concepts very large livers filled with fatty oil that help keep them from sinking.
Structure and function, Fins serve many functions. Pectoral and pelvic fins are used for steering, balance and
Patterns
braking. Dorsal fins (located on the back) keep fish stable and prevent them from rolling
Performance over in the water. The tail or caudal fin helps fish move in their habitats. Fast swimming fish
Expectations have narrow forked tails that provide the thrust needed to speed through the water. Slower
See page 5 swimming fish have a wide, square-shaped tail that helps them swim around rocks or reefs
and catch prey.

©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved. Decode a Fish Page 1

VOCABULARY
Adaptations: body parts
and behaviors that help
an animal survive in its
environment
The various colors and patterns of fish help disguise them in their habitats. Stripes, spots
and coloration can help fish camouflage and avoid predators. Some colors, such as yellow
or orange, are a warning that the animal is poisonous. In addition, as light travels deeper
into the water, bright colors seem to disappear. This also allows brightly-colored fish to
blend in with their surroundings. False eyespots located on a fish’s body may confuse
potential predators. Fish with counter-shading are dark on the top or dorsal side of their
bodies and lighter underneath the ventral side. This makes them more difficult for
predators to see when looking down on them from the surface or looking up from the
ocean depths.

Caudal: the tail or The shape of a fish helps it hunt for prey and avoid predators. A torpedo-shaped body
posterior end of an increases a fish’s swimming speed. Most fish with this shape live in open water and are
animal excellent swimmers. Elongated-shaped fish hide under or wrap around rocks or coral.
Flatfish have flattened bodies. They lie on their sides on the seafloor with only their eyes
Dorsal: the back or top
of an animal protruding from the sand, hiding until their prey swim nearby.

Habitat: a home for The position of a fish’s eyes identifies where it spends most of its time. When a fish has one
plants and animals eye on each side of its body, it usually swims in the water column and above the seafloor. If
that provides food both eyes are on top of its head or if both eyes are on one side of its head, it stays on or
and protection near the bottom. The eyes of some species look upward while others look downward. This
helps them find prey or sense predators above or below their body. Some fish living in
Pectoral: the chest or
breastbone area of deeper water have very large eyes to give them maximum light-collecting ability in low-light
an animal areas. Other pelagic fish have very small or no eyes because they live in permanent
darkness.

The design and location of a fish’s mouth indicates how it obtains food. If the mouth is on
the underside of its body, it feeds on the bottom in sand or mud. When a fish’s upturned
mouth is slanted toward the top of its body, it’s a surface feeder. If it has a big, wide mouth,
it gulps its food. Reef fish with long, skinny snouts probe the coral crevices for prey items.

Some fish have teeth of various shapes and sizes. Fish with tiny teeth nibble while some
shark species have rows of sharp teeth that bite and tear. Parrotfish have strong jaws that
scrape and crunch coral to consume the zooxanthellae (algae) within.

1. Make copies of the Decode a Fish student sheets, Fish ID Cards, Decode a Fish Key and
Habitat Photos.
2. Gather other fish images and nonfiction resources.
3. Find a nonfiction text about a scientist making observations or conducting an
investigation.

1. INTRODUCE THE FOCUS QUESTION TO THE CLASS.

Share the question: What patterns do we observe in the body shapes of fishes that live
in the same habitat? You may write it up on the whiteboard or have students add it to
their science notebook. Give students time to write their initial thoughts down or
discuss with a partner. Depending on their prior knowledge, you may need to spend
some time exploring the concepts of fish and fish adaptations first.

© 2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved. Decode a Fish Page 2
 2. STUDENTS COLLECT INFORMATION ABOUT FISH.
If you have a pet fish in your classroom, have the students observe it and write their
observations in a notebook or on loose leaf paper. If possible, visit an aquarium or local
field site and observe fish in their natural habitats. Students can also visit Monterey Bay THE MISSION OF THE
Aquarium’s website to view live fish on several web cams (See Resources). What do you MONTEREY BAY
notice about the shape and size of fish bodies, fins and mouths? Where are their mouths AQUARIUM
located? What shape are they? How do they move? Where are the eyes located and IS TO INSPIRE
what shape are they? How do fish breathe? How and what do they eat? CONSERVATION OF THE
OCEANS.
3. SET THE SCENE FOR SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS.
Read a nonfiction text about a scientist making observations or conducting an
investigation to learn more or answer a question about a phenomenon. As a class briefly
discuss what an observation is and how the scientists used observations to learn more
about a topic or phenomenon. You may tell students that they will investigate fishes and
make observations about body shapes in order to infer their habitats.

4. AS A CLASS, DISCUSS OBSERVATIONS ABOUT FISH USING THE FISH ID CARDS.

Pass out the Decode a Fish student sheet. Use some pictures or a few of the Fish ID
Cards with the whole class to compare various body and fin shapes and sizes. What
similarities and differences do students notice?

5. OBSERVE AND DISCUSS FISH HABITATS WITH THE CLASS.

Look at some of the Habitat Photos. What do students notice about different
habitats? Are there rocks or algae? Is it dense and crowded with inhabitants? What
shape and size are some of the animals?

6. AS A CLASS, USE THE DECODE A FISH KEY TO REVIEW SOME FISH CHARACTERISTICS.
Use the Decode a Fish Key to look at some of the characteristics that help fish survive,
e.g., torpedo-shaped body and forked shaped tail for fast swimming, flat, round or long
body shape to help it hide or a long probing snout to reach food in crevices. Refer to fish
behaviors, such as the ways they move and protect themselves. Many blend into their
surroundings (camouflage), some can rapidly swim away from a predator, while others
are bottom dwellers that lie immobile until prey appears.

7. WORKING IN PAIRS, STUDENTS INVESTIGATE A FISH AND RECORD THEIR INTERPRETATIONS.

Have the students select one Fish ID Card and find out everything they can about that
fish using the Decode a Fish Key. (You may choose to either cut or fold the Fish ID Cards
so only the illustration and not the written information is showing.) Have a few sets of
Habitat Photos available for students to reference. Challenge students to match the
clues on the cards with their illustration to infer which habitat their fish lives in, how or
what it eats and how it moves and protects itself. Encourage the use of deductive
reasoning to eliminate guesses and decode their fish’s physical characteristics. They
should look closely at its body shape and size; coloration; fin shape and position; eye and
mouth shape, size and location. Then have them record what they find in their
notebooks and try to solve the mystery of their fish!

8. STUDENTS CONFIRM THEIR INTERPRETATIONS AND FIND OUT THE REAL FACTS ABOUT THEIR FISH.
Using books, web sites and the written information on the Fish ID Cards, have students
research their fish to confirm their findings. Did they choose the correct habitat, how it
eats and how it moves and protects itself? What observations did they make to
help them?

©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved. Decode a Fish Page 3

CONSERVATION
TIP
Consult the Seafood Watch
pocket guide or app when
choosing a fish at a grocery
store or restaurant. Ask
your server for fish that are
on the green list.
Avoid the red!
www.seafoodwatch.org
© 2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved.
9. RETURN TO THE FOCUS QUESTION.
Now that students have decoded and researched their fish, have them revisit the
question: What patterns do we observe in the body shapes of fishes that live in the
same habitat? Students may think on their own or discuss with a partner. Then in their
science notebook, you may have them draw a line of learning and under it add to their
original thoughts about the question.
Websites
Monterey Bay Aquarium www.montereybayaquarium.org
Watch and observe many different kinds of fish on live web cams and in a video library, print
animal fact cards, find information in the online field guide or read through the Sea
Searcher’s Handbook.
FishBase www.fishbase.org
A global information system on fish, this web site has information about 28,500 fish,
including common and scientific names and photos. Take a Fish Quiz!
Books
About Fish: A Guide for Children. Sill, Cathryn. Peachtree Publishers, 2002.
Classifying Fish. Spilsbury, Richard & Louise. Heinemann Library, 2003.
Next Generation Science Standards www.nextgenscience.org
Performance Expectation
Relates to 3-LS4-3: Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some
organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all
Common Core State Standards www.corestandards.org
Language Arts, W.3-5.8
Writing: Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and
digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories
Decode a Fish Page 4
 Name:

1. What is a fish?

2. What kinds of environments do fish live in?

3. To what habitat or habitats do you think your fish is best adapted?

4. What is your evidence?

Name:

1. What is a fish?

2. What kinds of environments do fish live in?

3. To what habitat or habitats do you think your fish is best adapted?

4. What is your evidence?

©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved. Decode a Fish Page 5
©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved. Decode a Fish Page 6
©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved. Decode a Fish Page 7
©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved. Decode a Fish Page 8
©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved. Decode a Fish Page 9
©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved. Decode a Fish Page 10
 Body Shapes (where it lives)

Torpedo Boxy Round and Flat Elongated

(open waters) (among coral Narrow (sandy bottom) (around or
or rocks) (tight places) under rocks)

Mouth Shapes (how or where it eats)

Long skinny Mouth on Big, wide mouth Mouth with teeth

(probes in crevices) underside (gulps prey) (catches prey)
(bottom feeder)

Eye Shapes (where it spends most of its time)

One eye on Both eyes on Both eyes on top Large eyes

each side same side of head of head (light gathering in
(usually swims above (stays on or near the bottom) (stays on or near deep water)
the seafloor) the bottom)

©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved. Decode a Fish Page 11
 Caudal (tail) Fins (the speed it swims)

Squared Forked Truncated Pointed

(moderate) (very fast) (sprints) (fast)

Dorsal Fins on back (for steering and preventing rolling)

Tiny fins One long fin Large fins Small fins

Pectoral Fins on sides (for balance, turning and braking)

Pointy fins Short and square Irregular fins Triangular fins

(sharp turns and fins (balances, hops or (stabilizer)
fast stops) (maneuvers quickly) sits on fins)

©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved. Decode a Fish Page 12
 ©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved.
Habitat: Sandy shore
Adaptations:
 Halibuts have a large mouth. Both eyes are on one side of their
head and point upward. Their eyes are sensitive to patterns.
 A flatfish begins life as a normal-looking fish larva with an eye on
each side of its head. In about 13 days one eye starts roving and
migrates around the head to take its place next to the other eye.
When the change is complete, the halibut is still less than one inch
(2.5 cm) long, but it is ready to live life sideways.
 The top side of the fish is brown or blackish with light and dark
splotches. The underside is usually white. Its coloration blends
with the sandy or pebble bottom where it rests. It also hides by
burying itself up to its eyes in the sandy seafloor.
Size: Up to 5 feet (1.5 m) long, weigh up to 72 pounds (32.7 kg)
Diet: Anchovies and other small fishes, squid
Decode a Fish
Page 13
Habitats: Open ocean, near shore in surface waters, in the outer
edges of kelp forest beds
Adaptations:
 Barracudas have counter-shading. Their bodies are bluish to
brownish above and silvery underneath. The darker color on top
(dorsal side) makes it more difficult for predators to see them when
looking down from the surface. The lighter coloring underneath
their ventral side may confuse predators looking up from the ocean
depths which helps protect barracudas.
 Sharp teeth, large canines and long, pointed snouts make
barracudas fierce predators. The tip of their lower jaw extends
beyond the upper one.
 Their sleek body shape makes them fast swimmers.
Size: Up to 4 feet (1.2 m) long
Diet: Fishes
 ©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved.
Habitat: Open ocean in temperate waters
Adaptations:
 The hammerhead shark’s eyes and nostrils are located at the
extreme ends of its head. Perhaps this unusual shape gives the
shark added lift and lets it make sharper turns than other sharks.
 Hammerheads have uncommonly small mouths. Scalloped
hammerheads usually prey on stingrays. Scientists don’t know
much about how the stingrays’ venomous barbs that get
imbedded in the sharks’ mouths and jaws affect them or how the
sharks get rid of them.
 Their pups are born in warmer, shallower coastal lagoons. They
migrate offshore later in life.
Size: Up to 14 feet (4 m) long, weigh up to 350 pounds (160 kg)
Diet: Fishes, squid, crustaceans, stingrays
Decode a Fish
Page 14
Habitat: Kelp forest, slough, rocky shore
Adaptations:
 Leopard sharks have electroreceptors in their snouts that
help them locate buried prey in shallow water along sandy or
rocky bottoms.
 They nip off clam siphons and suck worms from the mud.
 They bear live young.
 When young, their spotted and barred coloring camouflages them
against the seafloor. When they are large enough to live in deep
water, their spots disappear.
Size: Up to 6.5 feet (2 meters)
Diet: Fish, fish eggs and invertebrates, such as crabs, worms
and clams
 ©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved.
Habitat: Coral reefs
Adaptations:
 Parrotfish have fused teeth that form beak-like plates, giving
them a parrot-like appearance. They have strong jaws for
crunching and scraping coral. Some species have large thick
scales that are strong enough to stop a spear.
 There are about 60 species. Most are brightly colored to blend in
with colorful and crowded coral reef communities. Males and
females generally look quite different. Females may change
into males.
 These fish produce tons of coral reef sand each year! The
sand-making process begins as the fishes graze on the algal film
that grows on coral. As they feed, molar-like teeth in their
throats grind the coral. The coral then travels through their
digestive systems and is deposited in the reef as white
coral sand.
 These daytime creatures burrow in the sand or hide in crevices at
night. Some species even secrete a clear mucous cocoon around
themselves at night, which probably masks their scent and helps
protect them from predators such as sharks and moray eels.
Decode a Fish
Size: 1.5—4 feet (.5-1.2 m)
Diet: Algae that covers coral and the reef bottom
Page 15
Habitat: Coral reefs
Adaptations:
 Zebra morays hole up in crevices and under ledges on the
wave-swept outer edges of coral reefs.
 They come out to hunt at night, prowling the reefs in search of
crabs, clams and other hard-shelled prey.
 Zebra morays have flat, plate-like teeth, perfect for crunching
hard shells. Their teeth tell the tale of their diet. (Other kinds of
morays have sharp, pointed teeth for grabbing and holding on to
fishes and other slippery prey.)
 Moray eels look menacing as they constantly open and close
their mouths, but they’re not making threats. That’s just how
they breathe!
Size: Up to 5 feet (1.5 m)
Diet: Sea urchins, crabs and other crustaceans, clams and
other molluscs
 ©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved.
Habitats: Rocky shore, kelp forest Habitat: Rocky shore

Adaptations:
 Rockfishes come in more than 100 species and many different
shapes, sizes and color patterns. Colors vary from black and drab
green to bright orange and red. Some may have stripes or
splotches.
 Their heads feature large eyes and thick, broad mouths that dip
downward at the corners.
 They are known for the bony plates on their heads and bodies and
the heavy spines on their fins.
 In giant kelp forests, rockfishes hover motionless under the kelp
canopy, buoyed by their air bladders. Some species rest on rocks
at the bottom of the kelp forest. However, other rockfish live on
rocky reefs, seafloors or in the water column.
 They are one of the longest-living fishes. Some species live 100
years or more.
 Some rockfish don’t reproduce until they’re 20 years old and only
have a few young. Rockfish can’t reproduce quickly enough to
keep up with demand and are thus overfished.
Adaptations:
 Sculpins commonly hug the bottoms of Pacific coast tide pools.
 These tiny fishes can be hard to see. Their colors blend in well as
they hide among seaweeds and rocks.
 Their camouflage makes it hard for bigger fishes and hungry birds
to find them.
 As the tide comes in, coralline sculpins often leave their home
pools and follow the incoming water to hunt in pools higher up.
 When the tide falls again, they head straight back to the pool in
which they started.
Size: Up to 5.5 inches (14 cm)
Diet: Small fishes, shrimp, crabs and other crustaceans

Size: 5 to 41 inches (12-104 cm) depending on the species

Decode a Fish
Diet: Small crustaceans, fishes, plankton

Page 16
 ©2016, 2005, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. All rights reserved.
Habitats: Kelp forest and reefs up to 240 feet (1.5 m-76 m) deep
Adaptations:
 Señoritas feed during the day.
 At night they bury themselves in sandy bottoms with only their
heads exposed. When threatened by predators in the daytime,
señoritas dart to the seafloor and hide by burrowing in the
bottom sediment. Sea birds and California sea lions prey on
señoritas.
 A señorita is small, tube-shaped and orange with large black
spots on its tail. It has large scales, a small mouth and
protruding teeth that are ideal for picking plankton from algae.
 They swim in loose schools.
 Known as cleaner fish, they pick external parasites and
copepods from the skin of other fishes. They clean until
they lose interest and then swim away, leaving behind
disappointed fishes.
Size: Up to 10 inches (25 cm)
Diet: Small invertebrates such as hydroids, bryozoans, amphipods,
parasitic copepods, isopods
Decode a Fish
Page 17
Habitat: Sandy shore
Adaptations:
 Sanddabs are masters of camouflage. They are quick-
change artists that shift color and pattern to match
their surroundings.
 Like other flatfish, sanddabs spend their lives lying or
swimming on their sides.
 They shuffle into the sand and cover themselves until only their
eyes protrude. They are often so well hidden that predators
and prey overlook them.
 Both eyes are on one side and point upward. A sanddab
begins life as a normal-looking fish larva with an eye on
each side of its head. In about 13 days, one eye starts
roving and migrates around the head to take its place next to
the other eye.
Size: Some species grow to 16 inches (40.6 cm) long while others
rarely reach 6 inches (15.2 cm).
Diet: Worms, shrimp, squid and fishes